Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Mixed; Kroger Tops Q1 Expectations

Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded down 0.20% to 26067.74 while the NASDAQ rose 0.28% to 9938.02. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.01% to 3113.72.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 2,163,290 cases with around 117,710 deaths. Brazil confirmed a total of over 955,370 COVID-19 cases with 46,510 deaths, while Russia reported a total of at least 560,270 confirmed cases and 7,630 deaths. In total, there were at least 8,367,890 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 449,390 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares climbed 1.1% on Thursday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Dynagas LNG Partners LP DLNG, up 9%, and Chesapeake Energy Corporation CHK, up 4%.

In trading on Thursday, real estate shares fell 0.9%.

Top Headline

Kroger Co KR reported better-than-expected results for its first quarter.

Kroger reported quarterly earnings of $1.22 per share on Thursday, which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $1.09. The company reported quarterly sales of $41.55 billion, which surpassed the consensus estimate of $40.72 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Alpine Immune Sciences, Inc. ALPN shares shot up 101% to $9.79 after the company reported a licensing deal with AbbVie for the development and commercialization of its ALPN-101. The company expects to receive $60 million upfront and is eligible for up to $805 million.

Shares of Eloxx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ELOX got a boost, shooting 16% to $3.54 after the company disclsoed that enrollment in its Phase 2 trial for ELX-02 has resumed in Israel and Europe. It was on pause due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Rexahn Pharmaceuticals, Inc. REXN shares were also up, gaining 24% to $3.52 after Ocuphire Pharma, Inc. announced plans to merge with a wholly-owned subsidiary of Rexahn in an all-stock deal.

Equities Trading DOWN

Art's-Way Manufacturing Co., Inc. ARTW shares tumbled 33% to $2.68.

Shares of Leap Therapeutics, Inc. LPTX were down 21% to $2.00 after the company priced its common stock offering at $2 per share for $45 million in gross proceeds.

IDEAYA Biosciences, Inc. IDYA was down, falling 21% to $14.75 after the company priced its 6.6 million share public offering of common stock at $15.50 per share.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded up 1% to $38.34, while gold traded down 0.1% to $1,733.20.

Silver traded up 0.2% Thursday to $17.805, while copper rose 1.1% to $2.618.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.4%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.1%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index slipped 0.1%. Meanwhile, the German DAX 30 declined 0.5%, French CAC 40 slipped 0.6% and UK shares fell 0.2%.

Economics

U.S. initial jobless claims rose 1.508 million for the latest week, versus a revised reading of 1.56 million in the prior week.

The Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index surged to 27.5 in June, versus a reading of -43.1 in May.

The index of leading economic indicators rose 2.8% for May, versus economists’ expectations for a 2.3% increase.

The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on natural gas stocks in underground storage is scheduled for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari is set to speak at 11:00 a.m. ET.

The Treasury will auction 4-and 8-week bills at 11:30 a.m. ET.

Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester will speak at 12:15 p.m. ET.

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard is set to speak at 2:00 p.m. ET.

Data on money supply for the recent week will be released at 4:30 p.m. ET.

Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President Mary Daly will speak at 7:00 p.m. ET.